TheHIV/AIDSparadox：Facedwithanepidemicaffectingalreadyvulnerablegroupsinsociety，insusceptibletoeasymedicalsolutions，theearlydaysoftheHIV/AIDSpandemicwereverydifficult.Yettheyproducedaresponsethatinvolvedaddressingaparadox.Paradoxically，themosteffectivewaytoreducethespreadofHIVwasbyprotectingtherightsofthosealreadyinfectedorthosechieflyatriskofinfection.Thiswasaparadoxbecause，inthepast，facedwithepidemics，thenormalresponseofsocietyhadbeenquarantine.BythetimethemagnitudeofHIVwasrecognised，thepossibilityofquarantinehadpassed.Inanycase，giventheslowdevelopmentofHIVinmanyhumans，effectivequarantinewouldhavebeenadisproportionateandineffectiveresponse.
Recognisingtheneedforparadoxicalinitiatives，countriessuchasAustraliabegantakingstepstoaffordlegalandotherprotectionsforpersonsatrisk.Thesestepsincluded：
（1）Introductionofmajorpublichealthinformationcampaignsdiscussingsexualsubjectsopenlyinwaysthatwereunprecedented；
（2）Establishmentofanationalneedleexchangeprogrammeforinjectingdrugusers；
（3）Legalisationordecriminalisationofprostitution（commercialsexwork）；
（4）Passageofanti-discriminationlaws；
（5）Thedecriminalisationoflawsagainstsexualminorities.
Inconsequenceoftheseinitiallyradical，andparadoxical，measures，theearlyrapidgrowthofinfectionswithHIVwasturnedaroundincountriesthatadoptedtheseboldmeasures.Thenumberofsero-conversionsquicklyfell.Althoughthereissomeevidenceofariseinrecentyears（usuallyattributedtothedifficultyofmaintainingvigilanceandself-protectionoverlongperiodswithinnewgenerations），thegeneraleffectivenessofthenon-medicalresponseshasbeenwidelyacknowledged.Toasignificantextent，thecountriesthathavetakentheparadoxicalmeasureshavewitnessedafallinsero-conversions.Thosethathavecontinuedtopromote，orpermit，stigma；tocriminaliseadultsexualconductinprivate；andtostigmatizeminoritygroupshavewitnessedacontinuingriseinHIVinfections.